Trevor Short
Trevor Andrew Short was the dimwitted best friend of local builder Paul Priestly and lodger of Mo Butcher at 23A Albert Square. Trevor arrived in Albert Square in June 1989, in search of Paul. He met local pensioner Mo and attempted to help her renovate the community centre, although he was fired by his construction site manager after stealing materials to help her. He then began lodging at Mo's and working with Paul, but would frequently manage to botch the jobs they worked on. He also suffered an unfortunate love life, fancying Diane Butcher, who was only interested in Paul. He then fell in love with Shireen Karim, though nothing ever came of the few dates they went on, as Shireen's father, Ashraf Karim, had plans to wed his daughter to someone else. Biography 1989-1990: Life in Walford Trevor first arrived in Walford in June 1990 in search of his friend, Paul Priestly. Upon finding him, Trevor asked Paul if he could live with him, but with Paul unable to accommodate him, so local resident Ian Beale suggested he stayed at the local B&B. In the following weeks, Trevor befriended pensioner Mo Butcher. He offered to help her renovate the neglected community centre, but his attempts to help Mo ultimately cost him his job, as he was caught by a construction site worker putting building materials back. Mo felt guilty over Trevor losing his job and decided to let him live with her. She then persuaded her son, Frank Butcher, to give Trevor a job at the car lot, but he did not last long, as Frank quickly became annoyed by Trevor's ineptitude. Paul then took Trevor on as his right-hand man when he began working as a builder for local residents. However, Trevor's simple-mindedness often made jobs much harder than they needed to be. Ian asked Paul and Trevor to move a partition in the café, but Trevor managed to botch the job by erecting the partition again after demolishing it. Then, when Paul was approached by salon owner Julie Cooper to help renovate an old fish and chip shop into a hair salon, Trevor managed to make a mess of the job once again. He also managed to make a blunder whilst working with Paul on the renovation of Ashraf Karim's house. In September 1989, Trevor was accused of theft by Frank and Pat Butcher when Pat's rings went missing. Unbeknownst to the couple, Frank's naughty daughter, Janine Butcher, had stolen the rings. Trevor confronted Janine after realising that it was her who had stolen the rings, which resulted in Janine running away from home. Trevor was overwhelmed by guilty following Janine's disappearance. Trevor's love life in Albert Square was also scarce. He fancied Diane Butcher but was frequently rejected by her, who was only interested in seducing Paul. However, when Paul began dating Julie, Diane used Trevor to get back at him. Trevor believed his love life was looking up, but when Paul went back to Diane, she quickly ditched him in favour of Paul. He later developed a crush on Shireen Karim, who turned out to fancy him herself. Shireen and Trevor went on a few dates together, but Trevor was left upset when Shireen later admitted to Trevor that they could not be in a relationship as her father was arranging a marriage for her with someone else. When Paul left Walford in December 1989, Trevor was devastated. However, Paul returned in February 1990 and Trevor was delighted. Paul informed Trevor of his intentions to move back up north to live, and while Trevor was initially dismal at the idea of losing his best friend again, he was ecstatic when Paul invited him to travel along with him. The pair left in March 1990. Other information *Trevor was brought up in a care home after being rejected by his parents from a young age. Background information *Trevor was one of the many characters introduced to EastEnders in 1989 to provide the show with comic relief. *Phil McDermott was axed in the role of Trevor in 1990 by the show's then executive producer Michael Ferguson. He was just one of the many characters Ferguson chose to axe following his appointment. First and last lines "Excuse me? I'm looking for somebody called..." (First line, to Ali Osman) --- "Bye Mrs. Mo." (Final line) See also *Full list of appearances Category:EastEnders characters Category:1989 debuts Category:1990 departures Category:Residents of 23A Albert Square Category:Abercorn B&B guests Category:Market traders